Yep, I had originally planned to go to the Scoop tonight. The Tube strike put paid to that - it'd take so long, in my experience, to get over there that I'd never make it in time; yes, there are extra buses, but the traffic's so bad, partly in consequence.. so I was happy enough to stay home (I'll go to the Scoop later in the month).
And then.. I came across a cheap ticket, tonight only, for a double-bill of plays. And when I looked closer, I discovered that one was by Vaclav Havel. But what decided me beyond doubt was that the other was by Beckett - my favourite playwright. What's more, it's one I hadn't seen! A quick check revealed that they were showing in the Drayton Arms - and when I researched that, to make sure: yes, that IS the one I've often passed on my way to my local Cineworld! In fact, I use it as a landmark as to where to turn off. An easy walk from home - oh, the joys. I booked a ticket immediately.
So, after dinner, I strolled past the traffic jams - got stuck briefly in a crowd coming out of the Overground station, but luckily they all turned off through the cemetery. Avoiding a couple of folks beating the jams with Solowheels, I arrived at the pub way too early. Seems the theatre doesn't open until 10 minutes beforehand, at which point a bell rings in the bar downstairs. Fair enough, and I waited there, on a sofa inside the door. When the time came, I popped upstairs, where they had my name on a list, told me my seat number, and handed me a free programme. The theatre itself has about five rows of benches, intriguingly upholstered with cut-up denims! Something I haven't seen before, but comfortable enough. There were only about 10 people in the audience - the strike might have contributed to that.
The first play - Private View, by Havel - concerns a fellow who's invited round by a couple who are old friends of his, and want him to see what they've done with the place. It's a brilliantly observed piece about a kind of people we all know, who feel they've done so very well for themselves that they just have to share it. And try to mould you in their image. And so, this hapless fellow goes from faking interest in the various things they want to show him, to having to defend himself against a constant stream of jibes about his own life, and how they feel it doesn't measure up to theirs. We all know them - but how often do we see their foibles exposed so bluntly? A beautiful piece, terrifically acted.
The more so because I got a coughing fit that lasted a few minutes. Not constantly - just a cough every 10 seconds or so for most of it. I sympathised with the poor actors, and my poor fellow audience members - I really thought, for a while there, I was going to have to leave. But I consoled myself with the thought that it's usually not nearly as bad for the other audience members as for the poor person trying to stifle it - and, thank God, it eventually subsided.
Because I really didn't want to miss Beckett. These are short plays, about half an hour each, with barely an interval in between - just enough time for them to remove the set. The set for the first play comprises pieces of furniture and props - after all, the visitor has to have something to look at! Catastrophe, however, is a typically sparse Beckett play, whose set consists of a chair and a plinth. The actors do a quick costume change, and the same appear in the second play.
The play is a particularly political one, with a theatre director reviewing the way his assistant has arranged the protagonist on the plinth. The protagonist, it seems, represents the common people - more specifically, Havel himself, it seems, who was a great friend of Beckett's. The director and assistant, then, spend their time dressing and undressing this poor man - manipulating him like an extra large dress-up doll (those in power manipulating the common people). However, it's deeper than that, with the director dismissing the arrangements that the assistant has made, both belittling her and further humiliating the protagonist in the process.
Mostly, it's - as I say - a typically sparse Beckett play, with much silence (boy, am I glad I didn't have to cough during this one!) and some repetition, each word counting for something. Finally, the director and assistant both meld into the background, leaving us to focus on the protagonist, who's been arranged in a kind of supplicant position on the plinth. He's been forbidden this whole time from showing his face, and once they have him where they want him, the applause rises. At the end, however, he lifts his face, and the applause dies away.. this is the one point where the production fell down, the applause didn't noticeably die away as he lifted his head. It more cut out before he did so. Pity - but you have to be so careful with Beckett, it's so precise. Still, it's a joy to watch. I highly recommend this show - runs until the 15th.
Well, tomorrow I'm booked to go to a classical concert in St. Martin in the Fields church, at the far corner of Trafalgar Square, with the Let's Do London - for less! group. Discounted tickets and a free cd! I'd better take some mints - don't want a repetition of tonight's coughing fit! I'd been too confident and didn't bring anything tonight. Of course, there's another wee problem - I can't take the Tube.. now, during the last strike, I took a bus to just past Trafalgar Square. It took me an hour and a half, and on the top deck of a Routemaster on a sunny day, I was boiling! (Deficient aircon and no opening windows.) Well gee, Google Maps tells me I can walk there in an hour and 15 minutes - and with new Skechers, that is exactly what I'm going to do! Coming back could actually be more of a problem, trying to cram onto a bus..
Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend, because flights were so expensive on Sunday! So I'm flying back on Monday instead. On Tuesday, I'm going to a play called The Gathered Leaves, showing in the Park Theatre. It's quite a while since I've been there.. It stars Jane Asher, and the official website had no availability. There were any number of tickets available from second-hand sellers though, all £26, for a face value of £20. I went with Time Out, who, I'm glad to see, have removed their exorbitant fees.
Next Wednesday, I'm headed to the Globe again (whoopee!) for a production called The Heresy of Love. This was originally advertised as a Meetup with the London Dramatic Arts group, but the Meetup was cancelled - unusually for that group, there weren't any takers! Not a Globe crowd, I guess.. their loss. Anyway, I was lucky, and literally got a ticket in the last hour of a Time Out offer.
And on Thursday of next week, I'm back with Let's Do London - for less! for a production entitled (ahem) Bears in Space. In the Soho Theatre, naturally. Gotta hand it to this Meetup group, its Meetups are nothing if not varied. And between this group and the London Dramatic Arts group constantly reminding us that things are selling out - I've become unusually organised, booking ahead! For this month only though, and I can pretty much guarantee it won't last..
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